Trading picked up on the junior Market as 8 securities traded, the highest number for some time. At the close of the market, trading activity led to 2,405,521 units valued at $2,877,589 changing hands.
The JSE Junior Market Index increased 0.32 points to close at 663.86 as 3 stocks advanced and 3 declined with Knutsford Express closing at a new all time high.
At the end of trading, there were 3 stocks with their bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 stocks with offers that were lower. Although the number of securities trading picked up, the junior market still continues to show signs of weakness with 9 stocks closing with no bids to buy. On the other hand there were 7 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
At the close, Access Financial Services traded 2,295 shares to end with a decline of 2 cents at $10.48, Dolphin Cove with 3000 units trading closed at $8, Knutsford Express with 7,726 shares closed at $5.50 to gain 50 cents, the highest price since listing in January, Lasco Distributors put in 1,000,000 units at $1.15, Lasco Financial Services traded 919,500 at 97 cents, with a 3 cents decline, Lasco Manufacturing lost 6 cents while trading 220,647 units to close at 98 cents, Medical Disposables had 245,000 units changing hands at $2, up 10 cents and Paramount Trading gained 20 cents in trading 7,353 units at $2.70.
Knutsford Express at new high
4 securities trade but bidding improves
The Junior Market closed trading with 767,730 units valued at $1,243,917 and Blue Power hitting a 52 weeks’ low. Tthe JSE Junior Market Index fell 2.86 points to close at 663.54 as only 4 securities traded with 1 advancing and 1 declining.
At the close of the market there was 6 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers that were lower. The junior market continues to exhibit weakness with 9 stocks closing no bids to buy against 5 that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Medical Disposables with 51,500 units gained 2 cents to end at $1.90, Blue Power dropped $1.05 while there was dealing in 4,070 shares to end at $8, new 52 weeks’ low. Eppley 9.5% preference share closed with 75,130 units changing hands at $6.10 and Lasco Manufacturing ended at $1.04 while 637,030 units were active.
Lasco companies lift trading on junior market
Lasco water treatment machines, part of the new factory facility at the White Marl in St Catherine,
The executives of all three Lasco listed companies, hosted a briefing at which the companies performance for the financial year to March this year and results for the June 2014 quarter, were highlighted, along with explanations for some of the new developments, including the addition of more warehousing space, to meet projected increased demand and some of the prospects for growth going forward.
Fresh on the heels of the tour, the two main Lasco companies that will directly benefit from the expansion, traded the largest quantity for some time. Lasco Distributors traded 1.26 million shares and Lasco Manufacturing 1.78 million units.
The Junior Market had trading in 3,828,805 units valued at $4,547,128. The last time the junior market traded with such volume is September 9 when nearly 19 million units were traded. At the close of the market, the JSE Junior Market Index fell 3.01 points to close at 667.90. Only 4 securities traded, none advanced while 2 declined.
At the close of the market, there were 2 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 stocks with offers that were lower. The likelihood of continuing weakness is reflected in the 9 stocks that had no bids to buy, against 6 that had no stocks being offered for sale.
In trading, General Accident with 613,089 shares lost 7 cents to end at $1.62, Medical Disposables closed at the lowest price since it was listed in December last year, by shedding 12 cents in ending at $1.88, while trading 172,587 shares. The stock price is close to the IPO price of $1.83. Lasco Distributors traded 1,264,872 units at $1.15 and Lasco Manufacturing traded 1,778,257 shares to close at $1.
Seprod & Lasco Distributors hike dividend
Seprod will pay a dividend of 35 cents per share on November 14, to shareholders on record as at October 31. The stock will trade ex-dividend as of October 29.
Seprod paid a dividend of 55 cents per share on July 4, this year. Last year a dividend of 30 cents per share was paid on November 15 and 53 cents per share on July 8 Lasco Distributors declared an interim dividend of 3 cents per share payable on December 9, 2014 to shareholders on record as at November 25, 2014. The stock will trade ex-dividend on November 21, 2014. An interim dividend of 2.3 cents per share was paid on December 10, 2013.
Medical Disposables & Supplies declared an interim dividend of 4 cents per share payable on November 19, to shareholders on record as at November 14. The stock will trade ex-dividend on November 12, 2014. This is the first dividend the company is paying since listing in December last year.
Trading picks up a bit Junior Market
The number of stocks trading in the Junior Market, rose to 5 from only three on Tuesday, with 2 advancing and 1 declining. The junior market Index increased 0.96 points to close at 654.75. Total volume traded is 322,674 units valued at $586,079.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market are, Lasco Financial 4,515 shares changing hands gained 13 cents to $1 and General Accident with 194,088 shares closed 4 cents higher at $1.59
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before are, Dolphin Cove with 5,000 shares at $8 and Medical Disposables 114,336 shares ended at $2.
Declines| Lasco Distributors is the sole stock declining in the junior market at the end of trading with 4,735 shares closing with a 3 cents loss at $1.15.
At the close of trading 3 junior market stocks ended with bids to buy above the last traded prices and 3 with offers that were lower.
Medical Disposables revenue up 26%, profit 13%
Winston Boothe – Chairman Medical Disposables & Supplies
Profit after tax is up 55 percent as there was no tax charge in the June 2014 quarter, but tax ate up $4 million of the 2013 profit. “The main reason for the growth in revenue is the strategic focus on new and wider product offerings and greater market penetration”, Kurt Boothe, General Manager stated in his report to shareholders.
Gross profit grew 27 percent to $65.6 million from $51.66 million and gross margin moved to 36.24 percent in the quarter, from 33.78 percent in the 2013 June quarter but down from 42.15 percent in the March 2014 quarter. “This improvement was due to the product sales mix, increases in sales of products with higher margins and consistent review of our pricing structure to maintain the gross margin efficiency” Boothe stated. The audited accounts showed Gross profit margin of 35 percent for 2013-14 fiscal year.
Operating expenses climbed 49.7 percent in the June quarter over the 2013 quarter and “was driven mainly by staff related expenses, professional fees and special bank charges. Staff related expenses, in particular, were driven by the strategic decision to realign the staff complement and compensation to sustain the current growth, development and expansion of the business,” the general manager stated.
Earnings per share for the June quarter was 6 cents per share with the full year set to come in around 25 to 30 cents per share based on existing operations. At a stock price around $2 there is not much room for the price to make any major moves in the short term, unless the stock market becomes bullish.
Medical Disposables was listed on the junior market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange in December 2013, when it sold 63,157,895 Shares at $1.83 each and raised $113.7 million in its IPO.
Year over year current assets climbed from $370 million to $514 million due mainly to the IPO funds raised, while current liabilities stood almost static at $221 million. Shareholders’ equity jumped to $369 million from $163 million in March 2013 while borrowed funds are down from $147 million to $128 million, or just under two years’ cash flow.
Prices of 8 stocks rose 2 fell on JSE
In Thursday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the prices of 8 stocks rose, 2 declined as 26 securities changed hands, resulting in 5,097,306 shares trading, valued at $14,900,219.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index declined by 592.75 points to 71,455.62 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell by 662.80 points to close at 78,608.56.
Gains| Stocks with gains, volume and last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market, are Cable & Wireless with 247,349 units as the price rose 2 cents to 36 cents, Caribbean Cement with 5,000 units, 25 cents higher to $2.75, Desnoes & Geddes 1,667 shares, 8 cents up at $4.10, Jamaica Broilers 1,500,000 shares to close at $4.59 with a 2 cents gain, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 10,000 units for 40 higher at $6.90.
Firm| Stocks with volume and last traded prices in the main market to close without a change in price, are Carreras with 86,330 shares at $34.50, Gleaner with 1,892,256 units at $1.10, Grace Kennedy 3,100 shares at $59, Mayberry Investments with only 340 units, ended at $1.55, National Commercial Bank had only 14,654 shares changing hands at $18.26, Proven Investments 1,500 units at 18 US cents, Sagicor Group with 30,400 shares at $9.25, Scotia Group saw only 10,923 shares changing hands at $19, for Scotia Investments it was 1,666 shares at $20.60 and Supreme Ventures 6,600 units at $1.75.
Preference| Only Jamaica Teas bond with 2,000 units at $100 each traded.
Declines| The only stock to decline at the end of trading in the main market is, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 3,416 shares, while losing 4 cents to end at $6.96.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 1.52 points to close at 626.24 as 9 stocks traded with 3 advancing and 1 declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market, are Access Financial with 10,000 shares, gaining 5 cents to $10.05, Caribbean Cream 500,000 shares with an increase of 4 cents to 65 cents and Lasco Distributors with 11,500 units with a cent increase to $1.06.
Firm Trades| The stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before are Caribbean Producers with 1,660 shares at $2.38, Consolidated Bakeries with 260,029 stock units at 80 cents, General Accident 306,000 shares at $1.35, Jamaican Teas with 45,364 shares at $3.25 and Medical Disposables with 97,552 shares at $2.
Declines| Paramount Trading with 50,000 shares is the junior market stock to decline as the price fell by 2 cents to $2.68.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Scotia Group dominates with $83M on JSE
In Thursday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange the prices of 3 stocks rose and 8 declined as 27 securities changed hands resulting in 8,283,873 shares trading valued at $115,640,825.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index inched up by 10.40 points to 70,492.27 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index moved up 11.64 points to close at 77,531.37, after being up by 1,658 points to 79,177.73 at 10.12 AM, in early trading, with Scotia Group traded as high as $21.70.
Gains| Only one stock gained at the end of trading, in the main market with National Commercial Bank trading 61,078 units to close with an increase of 40 cents at $18.
Firm| Stocks in the main market to close without a change in price are Berger Paints with 5,000 units to close at $1.65, Cable & Wireless 16,000 units to close at 29 cents, Caribbean Cement 6,820 shares to close at $2.20, Gleaner 163,282 units to close at$1.10, Jamaica Broilers with 23,170 shares in closing at $4.57, Kingston Wharves 650 units to close at $5.20, Pan Jamaican Investment 100,000 shares to close at $49, Proven Investments 280 units to close at 18 US cents, Radio Jamaica 2,814 units to close at $1.29 and Scotia Group with 4,310,653 units valued at $82,811,277 to close at $19. The bulk of the trades were conducted by stockbroker, Scotia Investments.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 1,297 units to close at $2, and the Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share, 431,000 units to close at $3.02.
Declines| The stocks that declined in the main market are Carreras with 200,000 units while losing 75 cents to end at $34.50, Grace Kennedy with 100 shares, declined by $3.75 to $54.05, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 1,002,596 ordinary shares traded but the price declined 12 cents to $6.88, Jamaica Producers had 13,114 shares changing hands, the price declined by a cent to $18.24, Sagicor Group had 1,030,623 units changing hands to close 10 cents lower at $8.90, Scotia Investments with 7,800 units close 40 cents down to a new 52 weeks low of $21.10.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 8.32 points to close at 708.27 points as 8 stocks traded with 2 advancing and 2 declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market are General Accident Insurance with 147,000 units, closing with a gain of 3 cents at $1.40 and Lasco Manufacturing with 14,500 shares to close a cent higher at $1.06.
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before are Access Financial Services with 1,925 units to close at $13.50, Blue Power with 100,000 shares to close at $9.01, Consolidated Bakeries with 458,761 units to end at 80 cents and Lasco Financial 10,000 shares to close at $1.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading are Lasco Distributors 169,410 shares, declined by 12 cents to $1.18 and Medical Disposables with 6,000 shares changing hands declined by 5 cents $2.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with the bids higher than the last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Market closes June on the up
In Monday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the prices of 10 stocks rose and only 4 declined as 23 securities changed hands, resulting in 3,003,461 units trading valued at $22,598,484.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index rose 641.81 points to end at 70,738.58, last year June, the index stood at 86,853.91points and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index moved up by 717.65 points to close at 77,806.78 this compares with 88,043.02 points on the end of June last year. The junior market index was also much higher at the end of last year June than this year.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Caribbean Cement with 1,650 shares to close up 20 cents at $2.50, followed by Carreras with 2,815 units to add 50 cents in closing at $34, Grace Kennedy with 1,600 shares to gain 99 cents to close at $55, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 2,848 shares gained 10 cents to end at $6.80, Jamaica Producers with 2,732 units jumped $1.38 to hit $17, but it closed with a bid of $18.24 for 48012 shares, Mayberry Investments with 3,988 shares gained a cent and ended at $1.46, Pan Jamaican Investment traded 800 shares and was up 44 cents to end at $48.50, Scotia Investments with only 2,776 shares was up 45 cents to $22.10 and Supreme Ventures put in a volume of 232,603 units at 2 cents higher to close at $2.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in price are Jamaica Broilers with 78,178 units to close at $4.60, Sagicor Group with 1,994,932 shares, 1.976 million units of which were crosses by Pan Caribbean Securities with the price closing at $9 and Scotia Group with 34,540 units to close at $19.
Preference share| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 186,416 units to close at $2 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share lost a cent in closing at $3.02 with 164,004 units changing hands.
Declines| The number of stocks that declined in the main market are Kingston Wharves with 31,596 shares to close down 2 cents at $5, National Commercial Bank saw 5,509 units changing hands with the price slipping a cent to $18 and Sagicor Real Estate Fund lost 10 cents to close at $6 while trading 60,191 shares.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 0.70 points to close at 721.00 points compared with 801.30 points at the end of June 2013. Only 6 stocks traded with one advancing with no stock declining.
Gains| Medical Disposables with 43,000 units to close 10 cents higher at $2.05 was the only stock recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market.
Firm Trades| The stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before are Access Financial with 67,400 units to close at $13.50, Caribbean Producers with 8,891 shares traded at $2.70, Dolphin Cove with 256 shares to close at $8.50, Lasco Distributors 69,236 traded to close at $1.30
And Lasco Financial closed with 7,500 shares changing hands at $1.
Declines| There were no stock declining in the junior market at the end of trading.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Grace, Sagicor & NCB dominate trades
On another day when stock broker Scotia Investment was involved in the sale of large trades in Grace Kennedy valued at $82,709,830, National Commercial Bank with a value of $43,035,978 and Sagicor Group with a value of $41,176,293, the volume continues on a high note. In today’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Mayberry Investments and Scotia Investments hit new 52 weeks lows at $1.45 and $22 respectively, for Mayberry it also it is the lowest price since it was listed on the exchange back in 2005. In trading activities elsewhere the prices of 5 stocks rose and 7 declined with only 16 securities changing hands resulting in 9,181,583 shares trading valued at $172,160,099.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index fell by 277.89 points to 69,662.9 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index lost 310.73 points to close at 76,603.98.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Cable & Wireless with 145,500 units changing hands gained 3 cents to close at 30 cents, Caribbean Cement 3,386 to close with an increase of 15 cents to close at $2.25 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 5,000 shares to gain a cent in closing at $6.61.
Firm| There were only stocks in the main market to close without a change in price as Grace Kennedy saw trading in 1,531,645 shares valued and closed at $54, Jamaica Broilers with only 1,864 units to end at $4.57, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 40,765 units to close at $6.09 and Scotia Group with 132,799 shares valued at $2,543,287, closed at $19.20.
Declines| The number of stocks that declined in the main market are Carreras with 11,958 while losing 44 cents to end at $33.51, Kingston Wharves with 6,802 shares to close 5 cents down at $5, Mayberry Investments with 25,000 units closed with a 5 cents fall at $1.45, National Commercial Bank with 2,487,460 units and closed 5 cents down at $18.50 with the vast majority trading around $17.20, Sagicor Group traded 4,672,227 units to close with a loss of 10 cents at $8.80 and Scotia Investments with 83,647 shares with a $1.10 loss at $22.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index advanced by 7.95 points to close at 718.10 as only 3 stocks traded with2 advancing and 1declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market are Lasco Financial traded 1,530 shares to close with a gain of 2 cents at $1.15 and Lasco Manufacturing gained 7 cents to close at $1.12 with 30,000 units.
Firm Trades| There were no stocks in the junior market stocks that traded to close at the same price as the day before.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading are Medical Disposables with only 2,000 closed with a 5 cents loss at $1.95, the lowest price since it was listed but still above the IPO price of $1.83.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 7 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 6 stocks with offers that were lower.
